Her Beasts

Savory or Sweet?

To make up for their loss of food, Iris had to cut back on their next banquet. She only made soup so that their food could be used as efficiently as possible. She had to address her guests as they all looked disappointed and some of the females who had recently joined were grumbling about wanting to just go home.

There were now two more females besides Holly and Fawn who had joined their weekly feasts. With several more single males joining in, there were now over one hundred beastmen in attendance each week. Even with the extra food they had gathered, Iris could not feed so many people without the donations she received each week.

However, to make it up to them, Iris promised to make an extra special treat the next week. This made everyone excited as they gossipped all week about what food Iris could be planning to make that week. The pressure was certainly high for Iris to deliver, but she was up for the challenge.

"Are you sure you are up for tomorrow? It seems everyone's expectations for tomorrow are quite high."

Caspian knew his mate hated to disappoint the others, but he felt that it was far more important that she take care of herself. If he had to, Caspian would happily take on any burden just so his mate could live a carefree life. However, Iris wasn't nearly as worried as she replied,

"No, I'm okay, but I am going to need your help with something tonight."

Iris had Caspian prepare all of the meat donated to them at the previous banquet. She wanted all of the meat meticulously removed from the bones. She then would take all the bones and put them to boil in their extra-large soup pot overnight. Once the pot was reduced to a mere quarter of its original amount, she would need Caspian to cool the liquid and remove the bones. This would serve as the base for a new dessert.

After Iris awoke the next morning, she could see that Caspian was still not in bed. She headed to the banquet room to check on the progress he had made.

"How is it?"

Caspian had gotten very little sleep the previous night as he had needed to tend to the fire and ensure it did not go out. Thus, he was startled by Iris's sudden presence behind him. Recollecting himself, he replied groggily,

"It's nearly done, but it still needs a few hours. It's gotten quite thick already, which is quite strange considering it's only bones and water."

Iris felt concerned for her mate as she took in the state he was in. Sure, even she could go over twenty-four hours without sleep if necessary, but it wouldn't feel very good. Thus she shooed him off to bed, opting to take over the whole process herself.

While the bones continued to cook down, Iris decided to also cook the rest of the bearberries she had for the season. This time she would not use honey as Caspian would certainly not be happy with her if she did so. After the last time, he had made her promise not to share any more honey with anyone else until he could find more for her.

Luckily, bearberries had a natural sweetness to them once they were cooked down. Iris could then mash a large portion of the berries further with a mortar and pestle to turn it into a sort of paste before using a grass mat to gently squeeze the juice out. This juice would then be added alongside some whole cooked bearberries into the thickened bone broth after the bones were removed.

After a few hours of sleep, Caspian felt a lot better. His head still hurt but he was able to function more easily and felt more alert. Soon, Caspian made his way into the banquet room to see Iris still hard at work.

"Hey, you're looking a lot better now. Do you think you could help me out here? I need to get all of the bones removed and then mix this berry mixture in before transferring it into some pie pans to chill."